Mississippi forum, a part of AHF’s new national ‘AIDS is a Civil
Rights Issue’ public awareness campaign, takes place on National Black
HIV/AIDS Awareness Day. Honorary guest speaker Reverend Al Sharpton
will be followed by a town hall discussion exploring the fact that
African Americans & Latinos continue to be disproportionately impacted
by HIV/AIDS. Local partners include Tougaloo College, Mississippi Faith
in Action, My Brother’s Keeper, Brown University’s Center for AIDS
Research, CommonHealth ACTION and the Mississippi Center For Justice.

JACKSON, Miss.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--In response to the fact thatAfrican American and Latino
communities continue to be disproportionately impacted by HIV/AIDS, AIDS
Healthcare Foundation (AHF) has embarked on a new national “AIDS
is a Civil Rights Issue” public awareness campaign intended to
highlight this health disparity as well as to emphasize the fact that
access to HIV prevention, care and treatment for HIV/AIDS should be
universal.

As part of its campaign, AHF has teamed with local Mississippi partners Tougaloo
College, Mississippi
Faith in Action, My
Brother’s Keeper, Brown University’s Center for AIDS Research,
CommonHealth ACTION and the Mississippi Center for Justice to host an
‘AIDS is a Civil Rights Issue’ town hall discussion at Tougaloo College
(Bennie G. Thompson Center) from 6:00pm to 9:00pm on Friday evening,
February 7—National
Black HIV/AIDS Awareness Day. The forum—which also takes place
during Black History Month and during the 50th anniversary of
the Civil Rights Act of 1964—is the first in a nationwide series
spearheaded by AHF. Reverend Al Sharpton will be keynote speaker,
followed by a program
featuring a town panel discussion with Hydeia Broadbent, an
HIV/AIDS activist & humanitarian HIV-positive since birth, as well as
several respected local community, political, heath, religious and
HIV/AIDS leaders.

Currently African Americans account for 44% of all people with HIV/AIDS
in the United States, yet only account for 12% of the population.
Latinos account for 21% of all new HIV infections nationwide, yet only
represent 16% of the U.S. population.

Disproportionately high numbers of HIV/AIDS cases among communities of
color may be caused by several factors, including:

Lack of access to clinics for care and HIV testing.

High levels of stigma surrounding HIV/AIDS in these communities
prevent people from learning their HIV status, or from seeking care
and speaking honestly with their partners if they know they are
positive.

Both society and the healthcare industry have marginalized members of
these communities both on account of sexual orientation and race,
blocking essential treatment, care, and education for those who need
it.

“Our ‘AIDS is a Civil Rights Issue’ public awareness campaign is
intended to open dialogue with stakeholders in the community, the public
health arena, and faith-based groups as well as public officials about
health disparities and the importance of universal access to HIV
prevention and care and treatment,” said Michael Weinstein,
President of AIDS Healthcare Foundation. “We are honored to have
Reverend Sharpton and our esteemed partners in Mississippi lend their
voices to this important cause and discussion.”

Dr. Amy Nunn, a professor at Brown University who has conducted
scientific research about racial disparities in HIV infection and how
best to engage black clergy in HIV prevention, notes that, "HIV testing
and treatment are among our most effective HIV prevention interventions.
Scientists, activists, clergy and others must find common ground and
work together to promote greater access to HIV testing and treatment.
Access to these life saving services is a social justice issue."

Over the Martin Luther King Jr. Holiday weekend in January, AHF launched
its innovative national ‘AIDS is a Civil Rights Issue’ billboard
campaign. AHF’s
billboards are intended to serve as a reminder of the fact that
African American and Latino communities continue to be
disproportionately impacted by HIV/AIDS compared with their respective
percentages of the overall population. The campaign also hopes to send
the message that access to HIV prevention and care and treatment for
HIV/AIDS should be a universal human right. The billboard campaign is
running now in Atlanta; Washington, DC; Columbus, Ohio; Baton Rouge,
Louisiana;Jackson, Mississippi; South Florida and in Los
Angeles. In most of the cities, the campaign will also be posted as
transit shelter ads.

Please join us and a multitude of faith-based communities in the South
in illuminating and fighting the persisting bias against communities of
color as we collectively strive to lower the incidence of HIV/AIDS, and
together we can ensure all communities have equal access to the tools we
need in this fight.

About AIDS Healthcare Foundation

AIDS Healthcare Foundation (AHF), the largest global AIDS
organization, currently provides medical care and/or services to more
than 279,000 individuals in 32 countries worldwide in the US, Africa,
Latin America/Caribbean, the Asia/Pacific Region and Eastern Europe. To
learn more about AHF, please visit our website: www.aidshealth.org,
find us on Facebook: www.facebook.com/aidshealth
and follow us on Twitter: @aidshealthcare.